Log Entry: Wednesday, June 2nd, 1999

Port Real Marina to Craig: 11.14 nm

We did this trip without rain! Only 11 miles, so we left mid-morning, and were in Craig by about 2.

After docking, we decided to go by bicycle to Klawoc, about 7 miles away, to visit the totem park there. This turned out to be a great idea (Jane’s). The cycle was tough (for me, not for Jane) and along a highway (the Hollis – Klawoc Highway) which, at 4:30 in the afternoon, was bustling with traffic: it’s the only road, and so anyone with a car or truck is going to use it ... The totem park was worth it: Tlingit totems are quite different from Haida totems: the figures tend to be realistic rather than symbolic, the totems more diverse, and the tops seem to quite often have a full carving, such as a whale, a frog, an eagle, two ravens, etc. Klawoc is mostly Tlingit, and the tribal association seemed to run a lot of the industry there. About half way back, we stopped to take some camcorder footage of incredible bird activity: dozens of eagles, ravens, and hawks were circling, swooping, flying across the highway, gathering in trees … Suddenly, about a hundred yards away, a bear crossed the road; a passing car slowed to let him pass. Unlike our cycle out, there was much less traffic, and it was a spectacular half hour of nature watching.

The dock had many colourful characters. Right across from us was a fishing boat: the owner spends his winters in the wilderness, comes into Craig for a couple of months in the spring, and then spends the rest of the year fishing further north. He has an old dog who comes with him, except for the fishing trips. We were the only sailboat in the harbour, and many people commented on the boat. We had dinner at Ruth Anne’s Restaurant: great food, and lots of it. And a nice bar.

The boat in front of us were fascinated by our flag, had a dog named Flash, invited me in for a drink.

When we returned from our cycle, our boat had been moved (by the harbourmaster: it’s a done thing in these parts) back to our original position! (wasted that moving effort earlier …) to accommodate a large motoryacht (60-70 feet).

On our way back from Klawoc, we stopped at the grocery store and loaded up on groceries. When we got to the checkout counter, we were told that the delivery person had gone home (it was after 7 p.m.). So, we left the bicycles, and walked the groceries home, then came back for the bikes.

[Docking, Fueling, and the bow thruster:

We called the harbourmaster on 16 to figure out where the fuel dock was … We went first to the fuel dock, did a (very!) good job of docking in a tight spot. Asked whether we wanted #1 or #2 diesel. Excuse me? The attendant had no idea what the difference was: he told me #1 was ‘jet fuel’ … I had to go to the service manual to figure out what we wanted, found out that #1 is for 5^oC or less, #2 is for warmer weather, so we filled up with #2 … Left the fuel dock, back out into the bay, called the harbourmaster again to get instructions for a slip.   Instructed to proceed to North Cove, and dock beside/across/behind The General.   Did so, but the situation was not quite as described on the radio.  After docking, we decided to move the boat.  There was a bit of wind, and in the middle of the delicate maneuver, the bow thruster died! We (I) rubbed the stern against the dock as we changed positions. (Later that evening, I started trying to figure out what had happened to the bow thruster, and discovered that it was working again. Decided that the gel cell battery used exclusively for the bow thruster is probably not charged by the engine’s alternator, and is only charged by the battery charger.)]